Forward Foods

I have a list of places you need to go should you find your self in Oklahoma City.  Our first stop in this list is Forward Foods.

Reason Number One why you should go there:  Cheese.

Reason Number Two:  Awesome shopping carts.

Plus they have truffle salt, kombucha, Sonoma Sparklers and my favorite crackers ever: La Panzanella, Rosemary flavor.  Go to here.

Matt Burch said

That we might go morel hunting tomorrow.  We saw him on Sunday.  It was another awesome farmers market trip.  No photos though since it was also pouring rain.

Please go see his market.  They are awe to the some!
http://www.facebook.com/urbanagrarian  This is Matt Burch looking oh so lovely.  And he is.  Lovely.

So, the only problem is that Matt Burch has basically been telling us all month that he will take us morel hunting and now there are 6 ladies that want to find mushrooms out in the woods with this fellow.  Yet, no morel hunting has happened.  Matt Burch, what up with that?

Matt Burch has hooked us up with some other mushrooms though.

These guys:

Oyster Mushrooms

And tonight, some Lions Mane and Maitake.  How did perform such a feat you ask and why didn't I take pics of the other awesome mushrooms?  I don't know why, they are at the school now waiting to become part of Danae's final project.  Google image the Lion's Mane, they are beautiful.

He sent us to Steve of Om Gardens in Norman, Oklahoma.

He was awesome too.  I am amazed at how many incredible people live down here.  Lots of great stuff happening here.  Steve cultivates mushrooms and sells them at the local farmers markets.  So cool.

We also loved Steve's chalkboard to-do list.

Steve also has an orb lamp like I do.  Only, mine is bigger.

 

Here is some food I haven't posted yet.

We are in finals week.  Which, I may or may not have told you about.  We have to come up with a three course meal.  I am working on something pretty kick ass.  Details to come.

This post is for Scwoody

Scwoody, do you read my blog?

Yesterday's Accomplishments

Yesterday was ridiculously fulfilling.  In a belly kind of way.  We had so much good food.  Crepes for breakfast.  We made all parts involved.  These are Mango Crepes with Coconut Blueberry Yogurt and Apple Clove Granola.  Dusted in Cacao powder.  They were amazingly yummy.

Then we had our cheese tasting.  I mentioned the cheese in a previous post.

 

Pinot Noir and Fig Cashew Cheese

 

Honey Cinnamon Cashew Cream Cheese

 

Salted Truffle and Parsley Macadamia Cheese

Dill Macadamia Nut Cheese

We ate it with our breads......yum

These were just my cheeses.  I tasted 3 other people's cheeses.  Some of whom made 8 different flavors.  It was so fun.  In level 2, they do a wine pairing. 

 

Almond Milk and Choc Chip Cookies for my studying.

We have a final project coming up.  A three course meal.  And I have to write the recipes and execute the meal like an actual chef.  Yipes!

Best Mom Ever

Mine.  My mom is the best mom ever.

Yesterday I got a package in the mail.  An Easter package.  It was full to the brim of awesomeness.

 

Here is what I recieved.
A robe: I used to collect robes.  I don't remember this one, but my mom said it doesn't belong to any of the people that live in her house, so it must be mine.  It is beautiful.

My old dress up doll.  She is like a paper doll, only wooden.  My mom made all the little dresses for her.

Some old photos:

Easter socks filled with playdough, The book Peter Rabbit, a grow your own plant, a chocolate bunny, some truffles from Idaho, a rice crispie treat  bunny.

A stickie pad and a bunch of homework I did in the first grade:

Some pillow cases I bought at a thrift store in San Diego:

A light up caterpillar and some airborne:

And best of all, my Easter basket full of eggs.  No egg hunt for me.  These eggs were filled by my nieces.  They all contain some of my moms old earings.  Awesome.

This box made me so happy.  Thanks Mom. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A boy becomes a man today.  It is a very special someone's birthday today.  I have not seen him in a long time and I am guessing he is all grown up now.  Sterl, this birthday greeting goes out to you from the bottom of my heart.  Happy Birthday.  I wish you all the happiness New Jersey can muster.

In honor of this day, I will finally do my bike post.  Sans awesome pics of me in a bike helmet since we can never seem to leave for school early enough to take photos of ourselves in bike helmets with bikes.  I will certainly try to do it tomorrow am.  That is today's goal.

Dear Future 105 Degrees Academy Students,
If you plan on staying at the Extended Stay America and don't want to rent a car, rent a bike.  It is awesome.  No, Oklahoma City is not really bike friendly.  Yes, people will honk and yell things at you from their cars ocassionally.  Yes it is awesome and freeing.

The coolest bike store in the world is just down the expressway from the illustrious hotel at which I pen this mighty blog.  It is called Bike One.

 

http://bikeone.us/

The owners are Mark and Janet and they are awesome.  Really sweet and genuine people.  Everyone at the shop is super knowledgeable and can answer any questions you have.  They are very community oriented and are working to make OKC more bike friendly.  They do group rides once a week.  They will start at the shop and ride out, sometimes around Lake Heffner, sometimes just around the neighborhood.  They have a calendar of all the rides happening around the city.  It is really cool to see what they are accomplishing here in OKC.   They have been incredible to me, Danae and Ellie.  We got hooked up with bikes, helmets and a bike rack.  And their prices are very reasonable.  If you are looking to buy, they sell new and used.  Any way you slice it, a trip to Oklahoma City isn't complete unless you visit Bike One.  If for nothing else, to joke around with Mark for 5 minutes.  He is very funny.

They are even on Twitter and Facebook.  They are hipper than I am!
http://twitter.com/#!/BikeOneOklahoma
http://www.facebook.com/pages/BIKE-ONE/195430248023


Visit Bike One today!

A shoutout to my Peeps at MTV's The Seven

KALE CHIPS!

I made mine Chipotle BBQ Flavor

You all would have loved them.

To those of you who don't already watch, the show is on at 5pm Est/Pst

Coolest show ever.  Friend us on Facebook.

Kevin Manno will rock your socks off.  Seriously, maybe don't wear socks.

http://www.mtv.com/shows/the_seven/series.jhtml

Speaking of Chichis

We were doing that earlier.  Go back and read if you weren't here for that.

This is Chichi, the class Chia Pet.  Aren't the tiny sprouts so cute?

I forgot to post this on RDOKC, Batmanwoman was there.

Today was awesome.  Everyday in Oklahoma City is awesome.  It is like Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth.

Today in particular was awesome because of chocolate aka cacao.  Cacao is the raw form of chocolate. It comes in bean form, like coffee.  And is usually roasted.  In our case it is not. Cacao beans are spun at a very high rate which causes the fats and the powder to separate out.  That is how we end up with Cacao Powder and this:

Cacao Butter.....mmmmmmmmmm.  So delicious.  Great for making all things chocolate and also great for putting on your body.  It is naturally anti-microbial and anti-bacterial.  It contains high amounts of sulphur and magnesium and Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors.  MAO inhibitors allow serotonin and dopamine to circulate for longer periods of time in your bloodstream which means they make you happy.  And they keep the happy coming.  Cacao also has awesome anti-oxidants.  Yay cacao!

We turned that hunk of butter (actually a very small shaving of that hunk of butter) into these:

I did 4 flavors.  Coffee, Peppermint, Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut.  To half my Dark Chocolate I added Buckwheat Groats(they make it like a Krackel Bar) and to the other half almonds and salt.  I really messed up the almonds and salt.  Too much salt and no way to save it.  It bummed me out to the max.  But then we made granola and I was not so bummed anymore.  And then after that, we made chocolate chips and then I was really not bummed.

But then we had to pipe the chips, and while I won't say that bummed me out, it did get a little bit tiring.  i.e. a lot bit tiring.

My cheese from yesterday: